Stick a fork in me....

I'm done!!! Hi Blogland.... Phew! At last I have done all my Christmas shopping, wrapping and now I have finished all of my cards!! Always left until last are those extra special ones for my parents and my Sister. But leaving them until last means I can spend that extra bit of time on them to make them what I want them to be.. NOT!!!! It actually means the opposite!! Does that look alright there, YES IT DOES!! Stick it down!! Even rushing a little bit I was happy with how my parents card came out..Whilst shopping at Bluewater I found some pre made cards in Clinton's, I know sacrilege to go into a card shop when I have an award winning shop of my own! But I do like to pop in occasionally to see what is trending at the moment.
I managed to pick up some Art Deco card packs, and as they were buy one get one half price I bought a few packs so that I could make up my own Decoupage. There were 2 of each of 5 design in a pack, so I reckon I could make a fare few cards out of all the images and not much more expensive than using normal Decoupage... I'll be heading back down to Clinton's for the sales to see what else I can pick up, unless you get there first!!!
As this card was for the folks I chose to use the couple which was in the set.So, I cut out the imagesand layered them all together...To keep the Art Deco theme going, I went for my favourite image from my favourite Cricut Cartridge, Billionaire. Well, my current favourite Cricut Cartridge, until something else comes along!! And cut out the Art Deco Car in Black & Silver Mirror Card..And added it to my prepared card.Adding the couple image with some big blobs of Silicone Gel to give extra dimension as if the couple were walking away from the car.
The card needed something as, although it looks very classic, it still looked a bit bare!So, I cut some Spellbinders Poinsettia shapes from some Red Mirror card,made a slit in eachand stuck the two petals either side of the slit together using Glossy Accents. On one of the Poinsettias, I curved the petals over the edge of my craft desk to flatten them out and give dimension at the same time!
The inner layer I left as it was. I then layered the two together.Next, I cut out some leaves from the Tattered Leaves Die and added them to the card.Popping the Poinsettia into the middle of the leavesand finishing off with some Gold Flower Soft..Merry Christmas Mum & Dad...On a roll I then had to do Joanne & Paul's card.Again I used an image from the card pack I purchasedand Decoupaged them.
The cards that the images came from were a sort of Purple colour, which I didn't like so I cut that bit off, which also meant I lost the tree! So I made my own!I cut out lots of leaves using the Martha Stewart Branch punchand made the boughs of the tree,and then filled in the remaining ares.Finishing off by adding the Decoupaged image....
So, now I'm all done I can truly start to enjoy the festive season...
It has been such a busy year, I think I managed to take a day off somewhere! The 17th of September and the 3rd of October ring a bell for some reason... Note to self, take more time for me next year!! We'll see...
I'd just like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a fantastic Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Crafty 2011 and I look forward to sharing some more ideas next year... Have fun...
Andy.

Last few cards

Hi everyone. Well, just a few days to go until Christmas day.. With the Tree up and gifts all wrapped, well, nearly all wrapped! Just a few last "special" family and friends cards to finish...I made this one for a few extra special ladies who have helped us here at Pinnacles so much this year... We really couldn't do what we do without them!!!
So here's a step by step for you. OK, maybe not for this year, but perhaps for an early start on next years cards!!!I cut out a door and a layer from my brand new Ornamental Iron cartridges @ 7"and layered the two images together.I then set about making my brick wall. I chose some Silver/Grey Glitter card, literally cut into 1"x1.5" Rectangles and stuck onto light Silver/Grey card stock in a brick pattern.Next, I took a piece of Silver Mirror card and punched into it using the Martha Stewart Iron Fence Deep Edger Punch.Cutting 2" sections from the cut out.I then applied the door to the wall.And then the fence. I used Silicone Gel to add some dimension.Whilst this was drying I cut out a wreath and tree from the Joys of the Season Cricut Cartridge.Added some gems to the wreathand attached it to the door.Layered the tree togetherand then added the pot.More gems,and then added them to the card...Once dry I added the images to my prepared easel card.Finishing off with a die cut Art Deco image to complete the project...I ended up doing a whole street of these as you can see....
Right, off to finish some more wrapping.
Thanks for checking us out and see you soon.
Andy.

New Years Eve Invitation..

Hi Everyone. Well, it's our last project of the year over at the Cuttlebug Blog Spot. And what comes at the end of the year?, that's right New Years Eve.. So that's the theme this week and we could do anything we liked using embossing..Here what I came up with.It's a play on a Birthday card I received this year from Lin..
And here's a step by step.I started off by cutting out a clock face from the Spellbinders set Timeless Heritage (S4-014) in gold mirror card. To do this through your Cuttlebug you will need to use an A and B plate, your card stock and dieand then a C plate.To emboss the image turn the die over, keeping the card stock in place.Add your No Shims embossing matreplacing the C plate with another B plateand there you have your embossed image.I then cut the hands for the clock in some Black Mirror card,again you will need to use the A, B, C combinations to cut.As the images were so small, there was no need to emboss them after they were cut as they embossed anyway..They were then added to the clock face at a couple of minutes to Twelve.
I then set about cutting out my cogs to mimic the inside of a clock. New Year is all about time after all I think..
Although I used a Bigz Die from Sizzix, these can easily be used through the Bug.You will need to take away your A plateand use the die face up as your base.Add your card stockand then 2 B platesand viola!!The cut out cogs were embossedusing a folder from the Stars and Swirls set (656458) from Sizzix.I then took a piece of Silver Mirror card and embossed it using the Chandelier from the Thank You Set (656507), again from Sizzix.This was matted onto some Black card stockand mounted onto my prepared easel card.Adding the embossed cogs to the base of the card andthen mounting the clock face over the Chandelier.. I was going for a bit of a jumbled look for this project. I.E, putting things where perhaps they shouldn't be hence the clock over the chandelier!!
I then cut my sentiment from my Cricut.Layered the letters togetherand mounted them onto the project.And there you have it.... All ready for NYE...
Don't forget to hop on over to the Cuttlebug Blogspot to see all the other Design Teams creations for this theme.
I'm off to finish my family and friends crimbo cards now that all of our club members cards are done and posted..We had quite a few to do as you can see!! And this was after 2 crates were given out at the last club members weekend!! I really should have started them earlier! Note to self for next year!!
Have a great day everyone and thanks for checking us out.
See you soon.
Andy.